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Supply Chain Managers

Also called: Supply Chain Manager, Supply Chain Director, Global Supply Chain Director, Supply Chain Vice President

What they do:
Direct or coordinate production, purchasing, warehousing, distribution, or financial forecasting services or activities to limit costs and improve accuracy, customer service, or safety. Examine existing procedures or opportunities for streamlining activities to meet product distribution needs. Direct the movement, storage, or processing of inventory.
On the job, you would:
  • Confer with supply chain planners to forecast demand or create supply plans that ensure availability of materials or products.
  • Monitor forecasts and quotas to identify changes or to determine their effect on supply chain activities.
  • Define performance metrics for measurement, comparison, or evaluation of supply chain factors, such as product cost or quality.

Knowledge

Manufactured or Agricultural Goods
  • manufacture and distribution of products
Business
  • management
  • customer service
Transportation
  • movement of people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road
Arts and Humanities
  • English language

Skills

Basic Skills
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • reading work related information
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
People and Technology Systems
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Abilities

Verbal
  • communicate by speaking
  • communicate by writing
Ideas and Logic
  • notice when problems happen
  • use rules to solve problems
Attention
  • pay attention to something without being distracted
  • do two or more things at the same time
Math
  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Dependability
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Attention to Detail
  • Initiative
  • Integrity
  • Adaptability/Flexibility

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • i2 Intelligence
  • SAP SCM
Electronic mail software
  • Email software
  • Microsoft Outlook
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • Microsoft Dynamics AX

Education

Education: (rated 4 of 5)
bachelor's degree or
master's degree
usually needed

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Job Outlook

Bright Outlook
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
Salary
$99,540
per year, on average
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Green
This work is part of the green economy.

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See more details at O*NET OnLine about supply chain managers.